Caring for a Cat
by Teddylonglong
Summary: ONE-SHOT. A certain tabby cat watches over little Harry Potter every Saturday. However, even professionals happen to make mistakes, and, unfortunately, six-year-old Harry knows nothing about the magical world. Will he be able to help her, or can they hope to receive aid from a completely unexpected source? Completely AU! Abuse!Dursleys (thus the rating).


**Caring for a Cat**  
 **by Healer Pomfrey**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Just like any other Saturday during the summer holidays, Minerva McGonagall was sitting on the wall next to the Dursleys' garden, trying to assure herself that little Harry Potter was as all right with his horrible Muggle relatives as he could be.

It was not as if Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, who had been the one to place Harry in that house and insist that he had to remain there, knew that she was checking on Harry whenever she could. No. She had told him about her sister, pretending that she lived near London and was very ill, so that she had to go and care for her every Saturday.

A sudden movement in the kitchen brought Minerva out of her reverie. "Make lunch, freak!" Petunia's voice could be heard through the open back door, followed by a small "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

 _'Horrible bitch,'_ Minerva thought, feeling extremely upset at the Muggle who treated the boy so badly, who had always been close to a grandson to her. She climbed up the nearby tree in order to get a better look into the kitchen, where six-year-old Harry was cooking for his family.

 _'I wonder if he at least gets something to eat from what he's cooking,'_ she thought, knowing that a six-year-old boy should not be able let alone be forced to cook the meals for his family. Her thoughts went back to the child's mother, Lily, who had been her student and later on a good friend of her. Only shouting from the kitchen brought her mind back to reality.

Horrified, she observed how the woman shouted at the small boy only to hit his head with the hot fry pan, apparently because he had accidentally burnt the meat.

 _'I'm going to tell the bitch what she deserves, and I'm going to take Harry from here and hide him at Hogwarts,'_ she resolved. _'Poppy, Rolanda and Severus will surely help me.'_

Completely agitated, she jumped down, only realising too late that she hadn't been sitting on the wall but on the tree. Usually, she could easily jump from such a height, however, the moment of inattentiveness caused her to fall down and forcefully hit the ground. The instant she made contact with the thin grass that was covering the ground under the tree, her head as well as her two legs exploded in pain.

 _'Oh no, I've probably broken both front paws,'_ she thought, horrified, feeling utterly horrible and helpless.

Absentmindedly hearing the horrible woman shout, "Since you burnt our lunch, we're going out to eat. We'll be back in the evening. See to it that your chores are done by then."

"Yes Aunt Petunia," the boy replied and, to Minerva's relief, stepped out into the garden.

 _'Maybe he can help me, even if I can't communicate with him,'_ she thought, helplessly, and let out a small meaow.

HP

Holding his head in a faint attempt to ease the pain that the hot fry pan had caused, Harry stepped out into the garden to begin with his chores, when he heard a pitiful meaow.

He curiously looked around only to realise that the tabby cat that was often sitting on the garden wall was lying on the ground under the large tree.

"Hi there, what's wrong?" he asked in a soft voice, as he knelt down next to the cat.

He observed, horrified, how the cat tried to move but failed due to what seemed broken front legs.

"Oh no, you broke your paws, didn't you?" he asked and, seeing the cat nod, gently lifted her from the ground.

He carefully carried the feline through the kitchen into his cupboard, glad that his relatives were gone for the rest of the day. Lowering the cat onto his mattress, he calmingly told her, "I'll go and see if there's any medicine that I can give you. Please wait a moment."

A few minutes later, he returned with a couple of bandages, some ointment and a towel. "Let me first treat your head wound," he explained, before he gently applied the ointment to her head and gently wrapped her head in gauze, carefully leaving her eyes and ears free.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know better how to help you, kitty," he then said, thoughtfully, before he carefully bandaged the cat's front legs.

"Is that better?" he finally asked in a soft voice, as he made a small nest around the cat using the bath towel.

The cat slightly nodded her head, making Harry smile. "You understand me, don't you?" he asked, relieved.

The cat nodded again, causing Harry to ponder the situation. "That means we can communicate," he said, pensively. "Don't move your head if it hurts. Just blink once for yes and twice for no, all right?" He smiled again, when the cat blinked once. "Very well, does anything else hurt apart from your head and your front legs?"

The cat blinked twice. "Now that's good," Harry said, contentedly. "Are you hungry?"

When the cat denied, he instructed her to try to sleep, while he was going to do his chores. "I'll come back and check on you every hour," he promised, before he left, leaving the door to his cupboard slightly ajar.

HP

 _'Harry is really nice and gentle, but what I need is Poppy's potions,'_ Minerva thought, feeling grateful towards the child but troubled at the same time. _'I wished I could speak with him. If he took me to Arabella, she could call Poppy, but there's no way I can talk or even write any instructions down for him with my broken front legs. For the time being, I can only wait and hope that everything somehow heals quickly.'_

HP

Harry looked in on his small patient once an hour. He carefully checked the head wound and bandaged it again, however, decided to not touch her feet. "Hopefully your feet will get all right again," he said in a soft voice.

However, when he checked on the cat an hour later, there seemed to be no improvement at all, and when he touched her paws, he noticed that they were very hot.

"Oh my, I think you're getting a fever," he said, worriedly. "I'll go and see if I can find something for it."

A few minutes later, Harry returned with a small bottle, a tea spoon and a small bowl with milk. He carefully fed the cat a spoonful of the fever medicine, before he placed the bowl with milk in front of her, only to realise that she wasn't able to move enough to drink on her own.

"Ah all right, so I'll just feed you, okay?" he cooed and began to spoon the whole bowl of milk into the cat's mouth, glad that his furry patient drank the milk completely. "I don't know what else there is to eat," he apologized, as he brought a slice of toast with him for his guest.

Harry groaned with a combination of annoyance and fear, when he heard his relatives come back earlier than expected. "Oh no, I didn't finish my chores yet," he said to the cat like he had always spoken with her when he had kept her company during the day.

It was not unexpected for Harry that his uncle stuck his head into the cupboard and waved his belt around in a rage.

"I'm sorry for not finishing my chores, I'll do better tomorrow," Harry whispered, horrified, as he pleaded for his uncle's mercy to not beat him with the belt.

HP

Minerva observed, horrified, how the fat man beat the small child. _'How dare he,'_ she thought in anger, feeling especially terrified because of knowing all too well that she was the reason why the boy had not finished his work.

 _'As soon as I can move again, I'll take him out of here,'_ she resolved. _'I don't care what Albus says. I could take him to McGonagall Manor and he wouldn't even know. The problem is that I can't be there during the school year, and I need Malcolm with me at Hogwarts. I have to ask him if he could manage helping Harry and me at the same time. While I'm in class, he could stay with Harry in any case. Maybe I should find another elf. The most urgent problem though is how to get my bones to heal without magic. I don't even dare transforming back considering how my head hurts. I probably have at least a slight concussion, so it would be dangerous to transform.'_

As soon as his uncle had left the cupboard, Harry scrambled into bed lying down next to her. "Sorry Pussy if it's a bit small in here, but I'll try to not take too much space," he apologized to her, gently laying his arm around her back.

 _'This cupboard seems to be his room,'_ Minerva realised, horrified. _'But at least his family will leave him in peace for now,'_ she thought and nestled into the child's embrace, before she drifted off to sleep, hoping to be able to find a solution to her predicament in the morning.

HP

The following day began with Petunia hammering against the cupboard door shouting for Harry to make breakfast.

"Sorry kitty," Harry apologized to the cat, "I need to make breakfast, but I'll try to nick something to eat for you from the kitchen."

Thirty minutes later, he returned with a slice of toast with jam on it and carefully fed it to the cat, before promising to bring her some milk as soon as he would be able to get some.

The day passed uneventfully. Harry diligently did his chores, however, he spent every free minute checking on his feline patient, giving her more medicine, speaking and cuddling with her.

"Do you have the impression as if you were any better yet?" he asked the cat, when he went to bed that evening, feeling devastated when the cat blinked twice. "I'm so sorry, I don't know how to look better after you," he apologized and began to think of a method to find someone with more knowledge of cats. "Maybe one of the teachers is at school during the holidays and can help me," he thought aloud like he recently used to do to keep the cat company. "In the morning, I'll make a plan," he promised, as he gently fed his patient the next dose of medicine.

HP

Minerva woke up very early. The warmth of Harry's body had lured her into sleep, however, the worry of how to get herself out of her predicament finally won and made her consider her situation over and over without any success.

In the morning, Petunia stuck her head into the cupboard. "Get up boy and make breakfast. Afterwards, we're going on holidays for two weeks. I've left the list with your chores on the fridge," she said in an unfriendly voice.

Minerva had to try hard to keep herself from growling at the unfriendly woman, however, she knew better than to alert the Muggle to her presence.

"I hope she left some food in the fridge," Harry mumbled, before he obediently left the cupboard to make breakfast. When he returned thirty minutes later, he seemed much calmer than before and informed her that his relatives had left for two weeks. "There's not much food in the kitchen though, just a few slices of toast and a little bit of milk," he added and carefully began to spoon some milk into her mouth.

HP

Harry cared for the cat and remained with her until she fell asleep due to the effect of the medicine, before he began to work on the list with his chores. He really had to keep himself busy if he wanted to finish everything during the fortnight.

It was in the early afternoon, when Harry was just checking on his feline patient, that all of a sudden, a dog walked into his cupboard.

Harry let out a small shout of surprise, noticing that something about the dog felt familiar, however, he couldn't place it. Turning to the canine, he asked in a soft voice, "Hello there, what are you doing in my cupboard?"

To his complete shock, the dog suddenly changed into a tall man.

"Hi Harry, I'm sorry for surprising you. Do you remember me? I'm Sirius, your godfather," he introduced himself in a soft voice, only to add, "I'm sorry that it took me so long to come for you, but now I'm going to take you away from here."

Harry stared at the man with a hopeful smile on his face. "I don't know what a dogfather is, but I'd love to come with you. I like how you can change from dogfather to a man," he stammered in confusion. "I need to take my cat with me though," he added. "She's injured and I'm trying to care for her. Do you know how to care for a cat?"

Sirius looked at the tabby cat and paled visibly. "Is that McGonagall?" he queried, causing Harry to shrug.

"I don't know, but she often comes to visit me and always sits on the garden wall. She must have fallen down and broken her legs though," he explained.

"Wait a moment, Harry," Sirius instructed him, before he changed back into his dog form.

The name 'Padfoot' came into Harry's mind, and, even if he had no idea what it meant and why it came up in connection with the dog form of his dogfather, he uttered, "Padfoot?"

The dog turned around and gently licked Harry's hand, before he turned to the feline and began to converse with her in animal language, which Harry could not understand.

HP

Minerva looked up in shock, when a dog stormed into the cupboard and shortly later transformed into no other than Sirius Black. _'I thought he was safe in Azkaban,'_ she thought, horrified.

She followed her former student's conversation with his godson, while her thoughts went haywire. In fact, she had always liked the young wizard and had had a hard time to believe that he had given out the Potters to Voldemort. Seeing the man, who had apparently somehow managed to escape from Azkaban talk to his godson, doubts about the young wizard's guilt came up again.

She looked up in surprise, when Sirius transformed back into his dog form and jumped onto the mattress, where he came to sit next to her.

=Minerva McGonagall?= he asked, sounding as friendly as he had spoken to Harry.

=Yes Mr. Black,= she replied, trying to sound firm. =Can you explain how you managed to escape from Azkaban?=

The canine had the gall to chuckle. =I'm innocent,= he then said. =It was Peter, everything. He's a rat Animagus. Anyway, what happened to you and can I help somehow?=

Minerva remained thoughtful for a moment. It wouldn't do good to send the man somewhere to help her only to have him arrested. She voiced her thought, before she instructed Sirius to tell Harry to take her to Arabella Figg and ask her to call Madam Pomfrey.

=If you accompany us in your dog form, I can take you and Harry to McGonagall Manor,= she offered, =considering that you need to live in hiding until Peter Pettigrew will be caught.=

Sirius gratefully accepted the offer, stating that he had no idea what had become of his old town house and who had access to it. He transformed back into his human form and explained everything to Harry.

"Of course, Mrs. Figg, she has lots of cats," Harry blurted out upon hearing Minerva's request. He gently cradled Minerva close into his arm and made his way out of the house, closely followed by a black dog.

"Good bye Dursleys. I won't bother you with my freakishness again but stay with my dogfather," he whispered in a small voice, when they crossed the road, only for Minerva to hear.

HP

Half an hour later, Minerva was healed and told to take it easy for a few days as she had a slight concussion.

"Thanks Poppy. I'll stay at McGonagall Manor with Harry and Sirius," Minerva replied and grinned, knowing that her best friend would come by to check on them and discuss everything later the same evening.

"I'll tell Albus that you had an accident in your feline form and will stay at the manor for the rest of the holidays," Poppy replied, resolutely. "Tonight, you're going to explain everything to Rolanda and me."

"If you're willing to keep up with my child and my dog, you're very welcome," Minerva replied, crisply, smiling at her best friend's response.

"Of course we will, just like we will care for our favourite cat."

 **The End**


End file.
